Monreale Cathedral
the internal areas

The senses tell the internal areas

smell
Spicy scent of incense

Entering the sacred building from the main west-facing portal, which William II of Hauteville dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an invitation to participate in the most impenetrable expression of the infinite, through a pathway steeped in art that calls at the same time for profound veneration. The spicy scent of incense spreads from the sacred area of the Sanctuary, reaching the hall in a crescendo.

touch
The profile of the columns

Built in the shape of a Latin cross, the basilica develops longitudinally, starting from the three aisles that divide the central body with nine rows of columns. Closing your eyes, following the outline of the columns, rhythmically arranged on each side of the central aisle, and touching the cold marble, is a way to mystically connect with the antiquity. The eighteen columns support capitals, irregularly distributed according to the size of the shaft, which in turn are topped by pulvinos that establish the beginning of the mosaic ornamentation of the walls, in an increasingly intense decorative rhythm.

sight
The wonder of the mosaic cycle

Sparkling and precious, the entire mosaic mantle of the interior was created by Byzantine craftsmen and local artists over a rather long period of time, between about 1177 and 1183. It follows a precise theological-dogmatic logic, starting from the mosaics of the main aisle, in which scenes from the Creation to the Jacob cycle from the Old Testament stand out, to the episodes of the Life of Christ, visible in the side aisles and described in the New Testament. In this initial path, in which visitors are filled with an arcane and inexpressible feeling, one’s attention naturally focuses on the grandiose image of Christ Pantocrator in the apse, in eloquent harmony with the architecture as a whole.

A Northern population

A remarkable ceiling

The liturgical spaces of the protesis and the diaconicon

The beginning of the construction site

The plasticism of the main portico and Bonanno Pisano’s Monumental Bronze Door

A new Cathedral

A compositional design that combines nordic examples with new artistic languages, over the centuries

The towers facing the facade used as bell towers

The rediscovered chapel

The side Portico: a combination of elegance and lightness of form

The stone bible

The cultural substrate through time

The king’s mark

The cemetery of kings

The chystro: a place between earth and sky

Roger II of hauteville: a sovereign protected by God

The mosaics of the presbytery

Layers of different cultures decorate the external apses

The Great Restoration

Thirteenth-century iconography decorates the nave’s wooden ceiling, designed with new solutions

Norman religious architecture with islamic influences in Sicily

The area of the Sanctuary

The links between the hauteville family and the monastic orders in Sicily

The original design

The Kings’ Cathedrals

The paradisiacal “Conca d’oro” that embraces Palermo: a name with countless faces through time

From the main gate to the aisles: an invitation to a journey of faith

The towers and the western facade

The chapel of St. Benedict

Worship services

A polysemy of high-level artistic forms and content

The mosaics of the apses

Cefalù: settlement evidence through time

The Cathedral over the centuries

Two initially similar towers, varied over time

The marble portal: an intimate dialogue between complex ornamental aspects and formal structure

Palermo: the happiest city

The Great Presbytery: a unique space for the cathedral

Mosaic decoration

A controversial interpretation

Squaring the circle

The longest aisle

The balance between architecture and light

The lost chapel

The dialogue between the architectures of the monumental complex

The side aisles

The architectural modifications ti the cathedral building after the death of Roger II and the transformations of the cloister

The construction of Monreale Cathedral: between myth and history

The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene

Beyond the harmony of proportions

The senses tell Context 1

A space between the visible and the invisible

The Virgin Hodegetria

The Chapel of the Kings

From the Mosque to the Cathedral

The chapel of san Castrense: an important renaissance work

Under the crosses of the Bema

A palimpsest of history

Gardens and architecture as a backdrop to the city of Palermo

Ecclesia munita

A cloister of accentuated stylistic variety

The chapel of the crucifix: an artistic casket based on a previous model

A tree full of life

The southern portico

Survey of the royal tombs

The Bible carved in stone

The Cefalù cathedral: a construction yard undergoing a change between a surge of faith and control over the territory

Artistic elements in Peter’s ship

The medieval city amidst monasticism and feudal aristocracy

Transformations over the centuries

The columns of the nave: the meticulous study of the overall order

Tempus fugit: a strategic project implemented in a short period of time

The decorated facade

Interior decorations

A mixture of styles pervades the floor decorations

A chapel by an unknown designer based on repeated symmetries

Porphyry sarcophagi: royalty and power

Roger II’s strategic design

Characteristics of religious architecture in the romanesque period

The chorus: beating heart of the cathedral

The Gualtiero Cathedral

The transformations of the hall through the centuries

Biblical themes enlivened by the dazzling light of the stained – glass windows overlooking the naves